For sugar cravings, eat protein!
I've been having these very strange sugar cravings lately. My sweet tooth has been in overdrive for the past two weeks or so. After indulging in some Ben & Jerry's last night, I decided to look up what the cause of these cravings could be.
Stress, depression, yeast in GI-tract, chromium deficiency, not enough omega-3...ahah! Perhaps that. I've hardly been having any fish lately.
But then I read a little further, and some experts suggest eating protein whenever you have sugar cravings. That seemed a much simpler explanation than the above mentioned. This is because protein helps stabilise blood sugar, and when your blood sugar is balanced, you're much less likely to crave sugar. I thought back to what I've been eating in the last month or so, and I've realised that I haven't had much meat in the last two weeks at all (which is when these cravings began). Usually, we eat quite a bit of tofu, but soy products aren't as readily available here in Denmark and so we've been going without.
Good examples of protein-rich foods are meat, poultry, fish, peanut butter, eggs, dairy, tofu, nuts, legumes, whey and soy.
And unfortunately, we haven't been getting enough protein. According to this online calculator by the University of Maryland (it gives you an estimation of how much protein/fibre/carbs you need a day), I need about 64g of protein in a day. That's a lot!
Of course, other google searches on our custom search sidebar (don't you just love the internet) brought up other online calculators that gave me numbers ranging from 45g-55g. 55g of protein is about 6-7 glasses of soy milk, and I probably get only 4 in a day.
According to Calorie Count, half a chicken breast, roasted gives you about 26.7g of protein. I should probably start eating chicken again :o).
OR, find a place which sells tofu. OR, take supplements. Nutrition in food these days aren't the same as they used to be 20 years ago, and supplements is a great way to make sure you're getting enough of your daily requirements.
I gotta go check out the pharmacies, soon!
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